Class Reunions

Class of 1955

Clockwise from Bottom Left: Jane Ellis James, Sara Hodge Geuder, Ellen Winthrop Jennings, Margaretta Kroeger ’00 (WFS Constituent Resources Coordinator), Liney Simon Humphrey, and Don Reid.

Class of 1960

Jim Simon, Stuart Bricker, Dale Roberts Megill, and George Lockhart.

Class of 1975

Front row: David Crosby, Trina Tjersland, Linda Harris Reynolds. Middle row: Lisa Dempsey Keller, Alisa Lippincott Morkides, Sandy Ranck King, Zach Davis, Tom Dew, Peter Townsend, Beth Clark. Back row: Rich Horwitz, Dave Geoghegan, Bill Wilson, Mark Bendett, Thom Marston, Robbie Smith, and Jim Reynolds.

Class of 1976

Marty Bowers, Tom George, Todd Whitaker, Becky Alderfer, Biddy Hukill, Judith Gelb, Sandra Scholl Donahue (in front), Jill Paul Deardorff, Andy Atkins, Diana Millick Hodgson, Dan Fleming, Kay Hewlett Ambrose, Christina Papastavros Fay, Andy Hollingsworth, Lisa Letang, and Dave Adler.

Class of 1971

Front row: Walter Hrab, John Kramer, David Cress, Bill Gant, Dolly Bochenek Wolf, Tim Hidell, Don Isken, David Stratton. Back row: Margaret Mullin MacKelcan, Raymond Osbun, David Wyeth, Clint Wetmore, Sally Barr Pardue, Barbara Baganz Simpson, Marie Haugh Osbun, and Tom Ellis.

Class of 1981

Ned Bancroft, Carolyn Gates Connors, Michele RedfearnWenzel, Adam Balick, Cindy Bergman, David Veith, Terry Romanoli, and Matt O’Brien.

Class of 1990

Front row: John-Michael Taylor, Katy Bayard, Keith Sokoloff. Second Row: David Gross, Laura Jersild Pardo, Aundrea Almond, Monica Clouser O’Neal, Carey McCormick McCoy, Connie Annos Dorsney, Jennifer Knox Korz, Abigail Bartoshesky, Amy Jersild Hsu, Sara Titus Skelly, Will Melick, Ben Lee. Back row: Mark Fiss, Rich Morgan, Mike Tigani, John Allen, Matt Meyer, Anita Sagar Venier, Reid Rademaker, Hunter Hohlt, Brian Mand, and Steve Wilkinson.

Class of 1986

Front row: Bill Hardy, Barbara Pollard Wolfe, Clarissa Bush Annolick, Brian Arrington, Jon Curran, Stuart Abelson, Kristen Greene, Susan Harper Shahidi, and Toby Beck. Back row: Steve Quimby, Liz Englada Kline, Jeff Henderer, John Peters, Lisa Ogden Borin, Beth Melloy Butler, Tom Donaghy, Oliver Yeh, James Heaton, Jon Layton, Tom Raiber, Rob Friz, and Head of School Ken Aldridge.

Class of 1991

Front row: Rick Harper, Herb Matter, Tom Kuon, Melissa Chambers-Riggs, Ashley Cattermole Gillerlain, Sarah Schenck Maheshwari, Marla Matthews Chandler, Erin M. Young, Sean Healy and Rick Balotti. Back row: Rob Tattersall, Tim Boulos, Sean Snyder, Matt Terrell, Josh Allison, Dave Harper, Geoff Parker, and Jason Mahoney.

Class of 1995

Chris Rowland, Catherine Strickler Gaul, Amanda Singleton Hay, Megan Ferrara White, Kelly Seiberlich Mayo, Sarah Singleton Turick, Charlie Donaghy, and Alyson Engle.

Class of 1996

Ashley Rust, Katie Measley Van Druff, Kristen Facciolo, Stephanie Hlywak, Meghan Rice Jodz, Mike Lamb, Jared Love, Catherine Wiedwald Stenta, Jarrett Rademaker, Erin Bushnell, Clay Hill, Meg Ting Ryan, and Shawn Breck.

Class of 2000

Front row: Leslie Rosenberg Chalal, Kaitlyn Ferrara, Jessica Fidance Clough, Meredith Jones, Keith Law (spouse). Back row: Isaac Chalal (spouse), Tom Smith, Chris Loeffler, Ed Simon, Aaron Poole, and James Scotland.

Class of 2011

Front row: Anna Melnick, Rebecca Caspar-Johnson, Leah Rizzo, Cindy Tanzer, Annie Sheslow, Ellen Rodowsky, Javier Horstmann. Back row: Luke Raber, Brett Fallon, Parthena Moisiadis, Chad Wood, and Joe Geoghegan.

Class of 2015

Left photo: Logan O’Brien, Tommy Rhodes, Myles Wilson, and Conor Ganse. Middle photo: Ian Furman, Conor Ganse, Molly Harper, and Meryl Gatti. Right photo: (Left side, front to back) Arielle Mobley, Logan O’Brien, Myles Wilson, Hana Arai, Meryl Gatti. (Right side, front to back) Ian Furman, Conor Ganse, and Nick Granda-Stone.

Class of 2001

Front row: Jaclyn Mraz, Lesley Simon, Jen Grubbs, Victoria Davis, Tina Kaiser, Melissa Donnelly, Mary Van Ogtrop, Cary Mellor, Sophie Erensel, Alex Mellow, Jeff Ferrara, Friedrich Ebede. Back row: Nnamdi Mowete, Cooke Harvey, David Barakat, Ed Proctor, Jason Keenan, Abby Morgan, Jake Stein Greenberg, Taylor MacKelcan, and John Schmidt.

MORE! Homecoming2021

Education, Introspection, and Action

Update on our Internal Climate Assessment

engaged Brown-Gary Associates, who conducted an immersive climate assessment and submitted a comprehensive report to the School with both commendations and recommendations. The assessment identified and prioritized both short-term and long-term needs for the School and the students we serve––education, introspection, and action being at the heart of the recommendations––and here we provide a summary.

To manage the implementation of the recommendations included in the Immersive Climate Assessment report, we have formed a Diversity Steering Committee made up of faculty and staff members, Ken Aldridge (clerk), Melissa Brown, Carlos Charriez, Erica Childs, Tina DiSabatino, Aminah Finney, Beth Hill ‘12, Karen Horikawa, Danielle Litterelle, Kathleen Martin, Amanda McMillan, and Don Morton ‘94. Ex-officio members are Mike Benner, Jon Huxtable, Julie Rodowsky, and Rebecca Zug.

In addition, we are hiring a Director of Equity, Justice, Community, and Engagement as a priority recommendation, and their primary role is to assist the School in realizing the aspirations articulated in our Statement on Diversity and Inclusion and guide the committee and the School through the important work outlined both in the report and through other strategic initiatives that they identify. Here is a summary of the commendations and recommendations:

Commendations

The findings produced several commendations for WFS. The School’s foundation and mission, along with our Philosophy and Beliefs and Statement on Diversity, articulate a firm and solid commitment to a diverse, inclusive, and equitable community. Student experiences affirm this commitment.

Our consultant found that the WFS Board of Trustees is both committed to being an active part of ongoing discussions regarding diversity, equity, and inclusion, and to their own personal growth. The Administrative Team was commended for their engagement in this process overall, and especially for the work being done in the middle school as well as the focus in Admissions on an enrollment management plan that is committed to a diverse student body. The School was also commended for a commitment to service learning in all divisions.

Specific initiatives within the School were especially noted. This includes the development of and participation in the School’s 10-year commitment to Seeking Educational Equity and Diversity (SEED) groups; the newly-created Read and Educate ourselves on Antiracism and Diversity READ Journal groups; and the Black Lives Matter committee work and community discussion groups held in the summer of 2020. There were also some specific commendations regarding curriculum and programming.

WFS was also commended for providing the space and time for various groups–affinity, alliance, and interest–to engage, and there was specific praise for the students of color having the courage and care to talk about their experiences and challenges.

Looking at equity, the School’s goal to grow our endowment to make WFS more affordable was applauded, as well as our fund apart from financial aid that assists families with incidental expenses outside of tuition. The accessibility of learning coordinators in each division was also commended.

WFS Statement on Diversity

At Wilmington Friends, diversity is integral to our educational objectives and to our mission as a Quaker school. The defining belief of Quakerism is that there is “that of God” in everyone. That belief gives rise to a profound respect for the dignity of each person and an obligation to lead on issues of social justice. Guided by Quaker principles, we seek to build and sustain a community of students, families, faculty, staff, administrators and trustees with a variety of identities—in terms of culture, economic means, ethnicity, gender, nationality, race, religion and sexual orientation.

We define diversity not only by the composition of our school community but also by the character of our interactions and the high level of scholarship in our program. We recognize that diversity of thought, identity and experience is essential to academic excellence and to the pursuit of truth, in the Quaker tradition. In and beyond the classroom, we seek to instill an orientation to learning about various countries, cultures, experiences, points of view, and identities that inform individual and family stories. That intentional engagement allows for honest discussion, including disagreement and the growth that can come from it, promoting mutual respect and a broadened perspective for all.

In the spirit of the Quaker concept of continuing revelation, the School is pleased to have a more concrete path forward for growth based on the recommendations provided in the report.

Education

Providing ongoing training and education for administrators, department chairs, faculty & staff, and the Board of Trustees, including workshops on inclusion; professional development in cross-cultural competency; and internal review of and discussions about the specific feedback in the climate assessment led by facilitators.

Providing ongoing implicit bias and anti-racist training for all WFS faculty and staff including learning about strategies that “positively affect student learning and attachment to schooling, in spite of social inequalities” for all adults in the community.

Increasing student programming centered around identifying behaviors of bias and bullying, what the consequences are for these behaviors, and what options are available to students to report these behaviors and seek out help.

Communicating the process to report incidents of bias as well as a clearly articulated no-tolerance policy.

Educating community members on the past and current experiences of people of color in this country by understanding the work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Learning from national programs supporting LGBTQ+ students, along with research, to support in-school programming.

Maintaining and expanding our diversity and inclusion training for new faculty.

Introspection

Implementing a curriculum audit.

Reviewing the process for differentiated instruction in the classroom, as well as providing more professional training.

Conducting a review of our service learning programs.

Including measures regarding identity-safe classrooms in student evaluations of teachers.

Including the application of multicultural practice in school faculty and staff evaluations, including the intentional pursuit of professional development; specific references to course content, teacher communications and classroom management; and skills consistent with the WFS mission. Conducting exit interviews with faculty that include components related to diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Implementing a review of our disciplinary processes.

Updating the process to report incidents of bias annually and looking at processes at other schools.

Review roles and responsibility for all faculty and staff with an eye on equity.

Conducting an annual review of the hiring process to help measure if we are achieving our goals.

Evaluating support for students with learning challenges who don’t have the means to seek outside support. Increasing diverse representation on the Board of Trustees and the Administrative Team.

Increasing lessons about various communities, points of view, leaders and changemakers, and cultures in the curriculum.

Refining the mission and purpose of student clubs and committees, adding more to include affinity spaces, and focusing faculty support to increase inclusion.

Creating more affinity and identity groups in the middle school, especially for students who identify as LBGTQ+ and their allies.

Creating ambassador groups for parents and alumni of color, as well as an affinity space for Quakers in the community.

Increasing engagement from the School and outreach to new families.

Using targeted recruiting efforts and networks for hiring.

Looking at specific networks, organizations, and associations for admissions, and using targeted advertising Open Houses.

Including specific language regarding diversity, multicultural practice, and cultivating a just and inclusive community in job responsibilities and aligning job descriptions to include expectations.

Providing ongoing mentoring with feedback to new faculty including WFS customs and expectations, and expose them to local and regional culture and activities.

Creating an Affordability and Access Committee to better understand non-tuition expenses that are considered essential to life at school.

Clearly communicating the process to access the School’s existing access fund for non-tuition expenses.